Why Firebrand?
The Wesleyan tradition has a rich intellectual history. Our founder was a man of considerable intellect, though not always systematic thought. John Wesley was, first and foremost, an evangelist, and from a young age he concentrated his intellectual powers on the evangelistic work of the Methodist movement. One can see in his journal entries, sermons, treatises, and letters a devout mind wrestling seriously with theological questions, but always toward the end of salvation. Wesley told his preachers, “You have nothing to do but save souls.” He meant by this that all of their work--preaching, visiting the sick, providing relief to the poor, forming class and band meetings--should lead people to the justifying and sanctifying grace of God.
Wesley knew that the life of the mind should serve this end as well. In his sermon “Scriptural Christianity,” Wesley inveighed,
Ye venerable men, who are more especially called to form the tender minds of youth, to dispel thence the shades of ignorance and error, and train them up to be wise unto salvation, are you "filled with the Holy Ghost" with all those "fruits of the Spirit," which your important office so indispensably requires? Is your heart whole with God full of love and zeal to set up his kingdom on earth? Do you continually remind those under your care, that the one rational end of all our studies, is to know, love and serve "the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent"?
For the Christian, there is one rational end of all our studies: to know, love, and serve the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he sent. All other goals bow to this one.
At times Wesley’s theological descendants have faithfully embodied this vision of intellectual pursuit. Too commonly we have not. This is simply not how the Western intellectual tradition of recent centuries has trained us to think about the life of the mind. Within scholarly societies one commonly finds a studied detachment from that faith once and for all entrusted to the saints. In many of our institutions of higher education, it is difficult to discern any historical Christian commitment beyond a nominal connection with a denomination. To say that such institutions exist first and foremost for the end of knowing, loving, and serving the only true God, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, would be not a stretch, but an absurdity. It would, in fact, scandalize the many denizens of those institutions who abhor the inherent particularity of Christian witness.
The Parameters of Our Discourse
Firebrand is an attempt to engage in intellectually virtuous discourse to this end of knowing, loving, and serving the God who came to us in Jesus Christ. It is an exercise in exploring a particular tradition in particular ways for the purpose of public discourse. Within this tradition that we call “Wesleyan,” there are numerous variations. The largest Wesleyan denomination worldwide is currently The United Methodist Church, but the vast majority of the people called Methodists around the globe affiliate with other denominations. The World Methodist Council counts among its constituents eighty denominations representing more than 80 million members in 138 countries.
Wesley’s influence, moreover, has reached beyond the people called Methodists. Wesley himself died an Anglican priest, and there are many Anglicans today with a deep affinity for Wesleyan teaching and practice. Many Pentecostal and Holiness churches will find the Wesleyan revival among the roots of their family trees, and in fact retain elements of this revival that have been all but lost among major groups bearing the moniker “Methodist” today. Further, acknowledging the minority of Calvinistic Methodists who have been with us since the days of Whitefield, by and large Wesleyans find common ground with Christians who, like our founder, stand in the Arminian tradition regarding individual predestination. Among these groups that relate to the Wesleyan tradition in various ways, dialogue about our common histories, beliefs, and practices can only be beneficial.
In order to facilitate discourse among Wesleyans and related groups, we affirm four core values:
The authority of Scripture
The Nicene-Chalcedonian faith
The Wesleyan tradition
The cultivation of intellectual virtue
A Public Conversation
This is not just a theological exercise, but one carried out in public. The people of the Wesleyan family have scholarly journals and societies, but these tend to focus on conversations between academics. For better or worse, many of us also venture into the mean streets of social media, which are all too often dominated by jack-booted ecclesiastical vigilantes. To switch metaphors, it is difficult to make intellectual progress in the midst of a rhetorical bar brawl.
Firebrand is not a place for bilious screeds, sophomoric conspiracy theories, or personal attack. We want to provide something different than any of these: a venue for virtuous public conversations about matters of theology and praxis, all in relation to the historic doctrines and practices of the body of Christ, and particularly the Wesleyan tradition.
We will, then, carry out debate, but for debate to be meaningful it should take place within certain parameters. One of the reasons that mainline denominations cannot stay together is that their members speak using different theological grammars. We all use common words, such as “grace,” “salvation,” and “justice,” but we use them in vastly different ways. It sounds as if we have a common theological vocabulary, but we do not. We have homonyms. The fact that we use the same words but mean such different things only adds to our confusion. It gives the illusion of common ground, which prevents meaningful agreement and disagreement.
Firebrand will not be all things to all people. Those who wish for discourse apart from these parameters will find other venues more appropriate and hospitable.The discussions on this site will generally take place on a playing field that coheres with the four core values mentioned above. In the interest of fostering intellectual virtue, we may at times wish to receive pieces outside of these broad parameters, but as exceptions to our general practice.
Toward a Renewed Movement
Firebrand is a wing of Spirit & Truth, a ministry that describes itself as follows: “Spirit & Truth is a movement of Wesleyan-minded Christians seeking to awaken and equip the 21st century church, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to share the Gospel and make disciples of Jesus Christ. We long to see a new movement of Christians who are empowered by the Spirit, rooted in the truth, and mobilized for the mission.” If a heady forum like Firebrand seems an odd wing of an evangelistic ministry, it is because we have lost our sense of the proper connection between theology and renewal.
It is no secret that the church in North America and Western Europe has fallen on hard times. According to the Barna group, in the United States over the last twenty years the number of practicing Christians--those who attend church at least once a month and say that faith is very important to them--has declined from about 45% to 25%. The extent to which this trend will continue is unclear. What is clear is that it is unacceptable. As Christians we are commissioned to storm the gates of hell and make disciples of all nations--including our own. The decline of Christianity in the West represents a massive ecclesiastical failure.
We hope, then, for renewal. Yet if it is going to bear fruit for the kingdom over the long haul, renewal must have a theological grounding. We Wesleyans have often treated our theological heritage, first in the Great Tradition and then in the emphases of our founder, as hindrances rather than resources. We have acted as if the teachings and practices of earlier ages are simply relics of a past that we must move beyond. Methodism’s larger instantiations in North America and Western Europe have too often sacrificed the faith once and for all entrusted to the saints on the altar of “relevance.” We have bowed the knee to the doctrine of progress. Holiness and Pentecostal traditions are likewise susceptible to the same theological decay that has so decimated the mainline.
If the Wesleyan tradition is going to have any future in the West, it will require a process of recovery. We must recover teachings, practices, and commitments that we have forgotten--sometimes intentionally. The Great Tradition of Christian faith is a repository of godly wisdom. The Wesleyan branch of that Great Tradition provides particular wisdom related to holy living. That is, after all, what Wesley was after--holiness. And holiness is no less crucial today than it was in the eighteenth century, or in any other century for that matter. It is nothing less than the recovery of the image of God that is tarnished by sin.
The Christian faith is not something we reinvent anew in each generation. It is a treasure we inherit, passed down to us by fathers and mothers who have been faithful stewards and trustworthy servants. Likewise, the Christian faith is not simply a collection of relics, but a living tradition as vibrant and consequential today as it was in the days of the apostles. Wesley himself wanted to recover the religion of the “primitive church” because he believed that the apostolic faith was the surest, truest way to lead sinners into salvation. We might think of this primitivist drive as a deep desire to recover and teach the faith that was once and for all entrusted to the saints. Wesley understood that there were ancient truths and practices that would lead to new life in his day or any other.
The one rational end of all our studies is to know, love and serve the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he sent. That is the purpose of Firebrand. We offer here what we can in hopes of knowing, loving, and serving the God who has saved us, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
David F. Watson is Academic Dean and Professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He also serves as lead editor of Firebrand and blogs at www.davidfwatson.me.